Fantasy Aviva Premiership Round Ten

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Newcastle Falcons vs. London Wasps

Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Sgt Pooly

01. Fabien Barcella	09. Luke Burgess
02. Rory Best	10. Toby Flood
03. Paul Doran-Jones
04. Brad Thorn	11. Miles Benjamin
05. Paul O’Connell	12. Sonny Bill Williams
06. Kelly Brown	13. George Lowe
07. Heinrich Brussow	14. Tommy Bowe
08. Jackson Wray	15. Jared Payne

16. Lee Mears 17. Clement Ric 18. Alex Waller 19. Ed Slater 20. John Barclay 21. Jimmy Cowan 22. Henry Slade 23. Ben Williams

Tactics:

HOME ADVANTAGE – Won every game at home in over 2 years
BACKLINE – Major talent and game breakers in backline
FRONT 5 - To set us strong platform


General – High intensity, quick passing game. Look to keep the ball alive in the forwards and use the offload to keep the tempo high. We'll look to set a platform with strong front 5 and control the collision and breakdown. Our pack will look to get Flood on the front foot and dictate play with SBW outside him he has the perfect 12 to draw defences away and look for the outside backs to get into the game.

FORWARDS

Scrum – With the good conditions and minimal restarts expected we’ll be looking to use the scrum as a restart and get the ball in and out and provide quick ball to our backline. If a glaring weakness is seen in the opposition we’ll look to keep the ball in longer but this is the call of the pack captain. Strong bench options to put squeeze on in 2nd half.

Lineout – quick ball off the top using POC as primary caller, also look to use Brown, Thorn to offer front ball. Target opposition ball and contest outside of 22 especially. Good jumping options throughout side. In opposition half look for Best (one of safest throws in game) to throw to middle/back which generates quicker/attacking ball. With our midfield coming into the attacking line flat we’ll look to open up the opposition midfield.

Breakdown – Look to target breakdown throughout game and really slow opposition attacking ball down and limit the opposition FH’s options forcing him to kick. Brussow to lead the attack and time his arrival to the ruch to allow him to attemp turnover or slow of opp ball. Will look to get Thorn/POC in at rucks if possible who’ll clear out and give our backrow the ideal opportunity to get hands on ball.

Defence – Look to use the blitz defence and get in the face of the opposition preventing any momentum. Burgess to sweep in behind and look out for any grubbers.

BACKS

Halfbacks – Look to get fast attacking ball and Burgess to play how he does he does for Aus/Toulouse by raising the tempo and attacking the fringes. Flood to play flat to the line and bring SBW into play.

Centres – Look to Get SBW hitting it hard through the centre and draw in the opposition defence. Also look to use him as decoy with Flood using the miss pass and getting Lowe on the outside or Bowe through the middle/outside.

Back 3 – Serious gas and power to exploit the opposition out wide. Payne look to make the break or have Bowe tracking to play the slide pass.

POINTS:-


London Wasps

Manager – Fluxy

01. Ben Daley	09. Haydn Thomas
02. Sean Cronin	10. Stephen Myler
03. Shaun Knight
04. Mouritz Botha	11. Tom Varndell
05. Marco Wentzel	12. Dan Bowden
06. Samu Manoa	13. George Pisi
07. Jonathon Poff	14. Topsy Ojo
08. Roger Wilson	15. Simon Zebo

16. Huia Edmonds 17. Charlie Beech 18.Carlos Nieto 19. Dan Tuohy 20. Beau Robinson 21. Jonah Holmes 22. Dan Hipkiss 23. Matt Banahan

Tactics
As the first game in charge of a new club not all of the plays and cohesion will be in place, so form the off we will employ a simple yet effective game plan against and imperious team away form home. We look to impose ourselves from the off and let the opposition know how we are going to play the game and how we want to dictate the pace of the game. Our brand of rugby is physical and fast, however we won't just run the ball at every opportunity. We will only play in the right areas of the paddock, therefore Myler will look to keep us penned in the Falcons 22. If Falcons are to score against us they will have to run the ball 80+ metres. We will look to go through simple phases to reproduce quick ball to cut the defence open. Slow ball we will look to set up pods and runners off Bowden, as this will drag Falcons defenders further. We have experienced players all other the pitch in Wentzel, Poff and Myler, and they will lead the team. With the changeable conditions, they also know how we will want to play our game.

Tactics

• Solid scrummagers on and off the bench, we will look to secure our own ball and at least pressure the Falcons feed. Sometimes look to legally wheel their feed to cut of the scrum-half from the backline.
  
  
• With a strong lineout, Wentzel will lead the lineout and use himself as banker ball at the front of the line with Botha jumping in the middle. Look to run full number lineouts to tie in the opposing pack.
  
  
• Our whole pack is mobile and capable of snaffling ball at the breakdown. Collectively we will look to (legally!) slow down Falcons' ball as much possible, only committing men to rucks if they only have two or less men in the ruck. Otherwise we will pull men out into the line to prevent them any front foot ball for their big carriers.
  
  
• The backrow will target the halfbacks, allowing them no time on the ball, which will lead to them rushing and making handling errors and mistakes.
  
  
• We will look to keep the ball alive, preventing them from setting any defensive lines and moving the point of attack. Myler will direct traffic with the use of quick pods systems outside the guards of the rucks.
  
  
• Off any first phase possession, the blindside winger will come in to create options off Myler so that it can keep the defence guessing to whether we will go wide, or cut against the grain.
  
  
• We will run a slow drift line in defence, with Thomas sweeping. We won't look to blitz, as with the line the falcons carriers then have to go through us. And with Flood being the only kicking option the team, we can only see the attack attempting to out pass us.
  
  
• Look to use our strong bench for impact later in the game. To get an advantage in the scrum, and collisions with big impact players.
  
  
• Myler kick all points, he can kick from within their half, so this indicates that Falcons should be wary of giving away penalties.
  
  
• Despite Falcons not losing at home for a long time, this shouldn't matter. To us its another game, and we want a win - especially with the boys willing to show what they can do for their new manager

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Harlequins vs. Worcester Warriors

b]Harlequins[/b]
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Joe Marler	09. Lee Dickson
02. Schalk Brits	10. Greg Laidlaw (k)
03. John Afoa
04. Bakkies Botha	11. Tom Biggs
05. Steve Borthwick	12. Felipe Contepomi
06. Dave Denton	13. Florian Fritz
07. Chris Henry	14. Zac Guildford
08. Nick Easter (c)	15. Rob Kearney

16. Rob Buchanan 17. Ben Franks 18. Kieran Brookes 19. George Kruis 20. Jamie Gibson 21. Karl Dickson 22. Quade Cooper 23. Anthony Faainga

Tactics

Similar to how we play every week. Use the big carriers in our side to punch holes in the opposition defence before we look to get the ball into the wider channels for our backs to exploit the gaps. We will look to get quick ball at the breakdown and keep the tempo high to tire Worcester out. We will not kick aimlessly and will look to offload when it is on.

We will look for our forwards to carry off 9 and 10 and when they do this we will look for them to carry at pace and in numbers. When they hit contact we will look to win the collisions and keep the legs pumping to keep up the momentum. When we are getting quick ball we want Laidlaw and Contepomi to attack the line to make it harder for the Worcester defence to defend. Always looking for our forwards to carry in numbers so they have support for the offload and so we can ruck the ball quickly and keep the attack going.

When we get the ball to the backs we are looking to get the ball into the hands of our dangermen at 13 and in the back 3. If we create these guys gaps then they will make the yards and score the tries.

At the set piece we will be trying to get the nudge on at scrum time as well as looking for Steve Borthwick to control the lineout. We will look to shorten the lineout between the 22m lines to get Denton and Easter into a position to carry in the midfield.

In defence we want a quick linespeed and to double up in the tackle when it is on. We will look for our players to look to get the turnover when its on and for our pack to legally slow down the Worcester ball.

Key Points

- Packed with physical carriers in our pack so we can make ground with every carry. Very mobile pack as well.

- Dickson best 9 around for playing at a quick tempo. Service brilliant and commands the pack well.

- 10 and 12 both capable of controlling field position should we need to switch tactics. Packed with creativity across the backline.

- As always we are looking to score tries but a win comes first. Can't afford to slip up at home.

- Good bench packed with impact players.


Worcester Warriors

01. Beast	09. Kerr Barlow
02. Gary Botha	10. Morne Steyn (k)
03. BJ Botha
04. Jim Hamilton (c)	11. Sean Maitland
05. Ollie Kohn	12. Pat McCabe
06. Tom Savage	13. Matt Hopper
07. Mamuka Gorgodze	14. James Short
08. Jerome Kaino	15. Rob Cook

16. Korree Britton 17. Nathan Catt 18. Chris Budgen 19. Juan Cruz Guilleman 20. Chris Walker 21. Eion Reddan 22. Tom Heathcote 23. Olly Barkley

Tactics

We for survival today and disrupt Quins. We have picked a grizzled pack who will play up the jumper rugby before releasing an exciting outside back line. International quality is in the key areas with in form players alongside these. After gaining a good draw against Sarries with a understrength backrow we welcome back Gorgodze and bring Kaino in for his first start.

Forwards
*Front row to concentrate on the scrum and get the upper hand from the hit. We will look to get the edge on them on their feed to open a clearer route for Gorgodze to run at their attack,
*2nd row-lineouts is key today and we have jumpers who will look for quick ball and to disrupt their ball. Hamilton and Kohn will look to get under their skin and Kaino is an extra lineout jumper,
*Back-row have international experience in Kaino and Gorgodze who will bring power to the game and be strong carriers over the pitch along with Savage, we will use both Kaino and Savage to aim to hit every other defensive ruck to look for the turnover or disrupt their plan of getting quick ball,
*Experience and impact on the bench, Budgie will look to maintain our scrum advantage with the youngsters and Guilleman can bring impact power.

Backs
*Quick ball from Kerr-Barlow and Steyn will play what's in front of him, he will look to run quite a bit of ball if there is space ahead and the defence are disorganised but if not he'll pin Quins back deep into touch and we will challenge their lineouts. Go for goal when the opportunities are there,
*Strong centres with McCabe looking for the offload to a forward runner or to Hopper who will look to get across the gainline before releasing the strong running back 3,
*On the wings we have players who are proven scorers, Short and Maitland will both bring pace, both will look to come off their wing's for work. Cook has been hitting the line well in real life and will do the same, he will also look to clear our line when pressure is put from deep kicks,
*We have further pace on the bench with Heathcote and Barkley can fill in and play a kicking game if the clock needs to be wound down, Peel will look to add experience and look to snipe as will Kerr-Barlow.

Defence
*Banana-blitz defence with McCabe leading this and Kerr-Barlow sweeping,
*If we get turnover ball by committing 2 players at the ruck then we will go for it and play with our heads up,
*Defence inside-out making sure that the pillar's are protected.

Overall
*Control the set piece,
*Put pressure by kicking deep and if it's on, use our strong backs to break the line and offload when it's on,
*This is a massive game and we know we have to win this and have picked a strong set of players to do so with a useful impact bench.

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Leicester Tigers vs. Bath Rugby

Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka

01. Andrew Sheridan	09. Dimitri Yachvili
02. Sebastien Bruno	10. Jonny Wilkinson (k)
03. Brian Mujati
04. Nathan Hines	11. Ugo Monye
05. Alistair Hargreaves	12. Maxime Mermoz
06. Sean O'Brien	13. Brian O'Driscoll (c)
07. James Scaysbrook	14. Vincent Clerc
08. Ernst Joubert	15. Isa Nacewa

16. Jonny Harris 17. Jimmy Stevens 18. Cencus Johnston 19. Pascal Pape 20. Francois Louw 21. Micky Young 22. Billy Twelvetrees 23. Dominic Waldouck

Tactics:

We will play to our strengths and play a game built around our intelligent HB's controlling the game, the power of our pack and the strength in our set piece.

- Ability to play in different ways - we're not here to kick the ball away. We have the personnel in our side to play a mixture of different styles, and we will play the game as we see it.

- Attack at all scrums with our huge pack - Bruno, Mujati and Sheridan to look to really get the shove on.

- Attack at all lineouts. Our lineout is led by Hargreaves; with Joubert, Hines and SOB as our other jumping options.
Some great lineout stealers in our ranks who will pressure every one of Brooker's throws.

- Gigantic pack made up of massive line-breakers, used in the tight to tire down the Bath defence. The likes of SOB, Joubert, Hines, Hargreaves and Scaysbrook to be used to crash through the Bath defence.
Look to play an offloading game, with runners always supporting.

- Huge emphasis on our work at the breakdown today and we will always look to turnover possession. With Scaysbrook, and the likes of SOB and BOD, we feel our breakdown play could be crucial today.

- In general attacking play, we will play off 9 with Yachvili our general pulling the strings. We want Yach and Wilko to control the game, mixing up the point of our attack and looking for where the gaps are. We want Mermoz and BOD on the ball looking to send our back three into space.

- We will look to employ a blitz defence, focusing on a quick line speed to hit the ball carrier before he gets to the gainline. We have aggressive forwards to carry out this instruction. Yachvili to sweep behind with an eye on short kicks.

- Unload our powerful bench to impact the game in the second half.

- Wilkinson to kick all penalites.


Key Points:

Form and Momentum
8 wins out of 9 in the league, we are absolutely flying at the minute and have so much confidence - sitting top of the league. In stark contrast - Bath have just won 4 of their 9 league games this season. Particularly at Welford Road, we feel unbeatable, and have already beaten the likes of Newcastle, Saints and Quins at home this season.

Impact off the Bench
Unless injury or cards say otherwise, we will introduce Cencus Johnston, Pascal Pape and Francois Louw off the bench early in the 2nd half - as they return from international duty. All three are in sensational from, and we hope for them to carry this into the Tigers shirt to give us the upper hand in the second half.

Fresh Pack
All of our players have been managed stringently this season in terms of game time, and we have chosen not to start any of the international players who played a lot over the AI's. In contrast, Bath are playing Healy, Kubs and Lobbe in their pack, who have all featured heavily for their countries over the last month.


Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane

01. Cian Healy	09. Richard Wigglesworth
02. Chris Brooker	10. Charlie Hodgson
03. Davit Kubrashvili
04. Louis Deacon	11. Maxime Medard
05. Graham Kitchener	12. Anthony Allen
06. Brad Shields	13. Aurelien Rougerie
07. Akapusi Qera	14. Napolini Nalaga
08. Juan Martin Fernando Lobbe	15. Stuart Hogg

16. Euan Murray 17. Will Tanner 18. Jon Golding 19. Jarrad Hoeata 20. David Seymour 21. Fourie Du Preez 22. Luther Burrell 23. Rob Miller

Overall: Look to play the conditions throughout with Hodgson running the tempo. Use big runners/carries and go through the phases. Keep things simple in our own half and increase the pressure in opposition half. We will especially look to exploit the lineout where we feel we have a big advantage

Scrum: We will look to be competitive at scrum time with Lobbe controlling it from the back. Lobbe will control the scrum from number eight. Apply pressure and look to get nudge on throughout. Look to play the ref and if not going our way use as a restart.

Lineout: Our second row partnership is where we really feel we can have advantage. With Kitchener, Lobbe and Deacon backed up by Shields we can really get at the opposition throw. We will look to really attack the lineout as somewhere we have an advantage over Tigers.

We will be looking for big carries from the forwards with the likes of Lobbe, Healy and Shields dangerous runners who can really create gaps for our backs. We will be looking for lots of energy from our forwards to open up holes to be exploited. Our carrying is somewhere we feel we have a distinct advantage.

Breakdown: Look to clear hard and fast with Qera and Shields looking to make a real nuisance of themselves and get their hands on the ball

Backs: We will be looking to use the backs in order to create or go through holes. Wigglesworth and Hodgson will look to really get the backs going with a good tempo.. Look to get our big runners involved as early as possible with Rougerie, Hogg and Nalaga seeing lots of the ball. Hodgson will often look to deep in the corners if we feel we have the lineout dominance established. Lobbe will lead any chases.

Defence: Use a blitz defence in order to put pressure on Tiger’s key decision makers and prevent them from playing. Richard Wigglesworth to sweep in behind.

Substitutes: Our subs will come on and look to keep a high tempo. Tanner, Murray and Golding will look to come in and help the scrum. Hoeata will look to add grit late on whilst Seymour will look to add to breakdown late on. Du Preez has a lot of experience and will look to use it late on to control the tempo. Burrell and Miller are great options late on. Burrell can inject a little bit of tempo and energy. Miller also capable of runs offer another boot late on to keep territory.

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London Welsh vs. London Irish

London Welsh
Manager – Ozzy3213

01. Brett Sturgess	09. Morgan Parra
02. Bismarck du Plessis	10. Patric Lambie
03. Adam Jones
04. Dean Schofield	11. Bryan Habana
05. George Skivington	12. Gavin Henson
06. Tom Johnson	13. Darren Cave
07. Thierry Dusautoir	14. Matt Jess
08. Sione Kalamafoni	15. Jaco Taute

16. Chris Whitehead 17. Steven Kitschoff 18. Frans Malherbe 19. James Hanks 20. Luke Wallace 21. Charlie Davies 22. Joel Tomkins 23. Louis Ludik

Basic Game Plan

Basic tactical premise for us to control possession and be solid defensively. Focus will be on winning the gainline collisions in both attack and defence. In order to do this we have picked a very big pack to try to physically dominate this area of the game. We are aware that Irish have big backs so will be looking for the gaps and offloading in attack rather than trying to drive over players all the time. We will look to apply pressure to Irish by keeping the ball for long periods and wearing them down defensively, and also by maintaining a solid defence and denying them opportunities to get on the score board. Pressure forces mistakes, and we will look to capitalise on any that Saints make.

Attacking specifics

• Pat Lambie to play what he sees, but in essence we want to control possession and go through the phases.
  
• Target Tagicakibau in defence, in particular big carriers looking to go on his inside shoulder where he is not the best one on one tackler..
  
• Support runners to ruck past the ball quickly if the carrier goes to ground in order to secure quick ball to go again.
  
• Go through the phases, looking to mix things up. Irish have a big backline from 11-14 and we want move them around and create gaps rather than looking for the contact.
  

Defensive specifics

• We will look to play a blitz defence with quick line speed to hit the ball carrier before he gets to the gainline and knock him back even further. Parra will sweep in behind.
  
• We will not overcommit to the breakdown. If a turnover is on, we will go for it, counter rucking and hitting on the break. If it is not on to win the ball, we will send in a couple of players to legally slow it, and get our defensive line set quickly and strongly a la France in the World Cup. We want to control the gainline in defence and attack.
  
• Maintain discipline and do not give away penalties.
  

Key Points

• Good form, beating Falcons and getting a losing bonus point at Gloucester and a draw at Saints, but not the sort of form that breeds complacency. We are in a good place, knowing that we can win, but we have to play well to do so, and are at home.
  
• Experienced internationals in key position (2,8,9,10) who know how to control a game.
  
• Our focus is on controlling possession and keeping the ball alive. We want to hit gaps and get the ball away to support runners, causing the big Irish backs to have to work very hard defensively, which in turn should create gaps for us to put runners through..
  
• We have no traditional fetcher, but with BdP in the side the balance of our pack is good as he is better at the breakdown than most opensides.
  
• We may not have as many ‘stars’ in the side as some teams, but our players complement each other and work as a unit, and you need some solid citizens in sides to do the grunt work, and we have that in abundance. Not flash, just effective.
  

London Irish
Manager – stnick88

01. Jean-Baptiste Poux	09. Ruan Pienaar
02. Tom Lindsay	10. Nick Evans
03. WP Nel
04. Matt Garvey	11. Sailosi Tagicakibau
05. Johann Muller	12. Luke McAllister
06. Keegan Daniel	13. Mathieu Bastereaud
07. Steffon Armitage	14. Marland Yarde
08. Pierre Spies	15. Delon Armitage

16. Matt Stevens 17. James Buckland 18. Brok Harris 19. Nick Kennedy 20. Will Fraser 21. Neal De Kock 22. Shane Geraghty 23. Sireli Naqalevuki

London Irish stick with the side that recorded an impressive win over the champions Newcastle Falcons for their match against London Welsh. Dubbed the battle of the Exiles, Irish will be determined to consolidate their position in the playoffs before returning to Heineken Cup duty next week.

Tactics

- We are on good form and will look to continue that form against a side playing at a new home ground for the season.

- We want to use our backs as much as possible and attack Welsh. Evans and Mac will look to control the game and get us playing in the right areas. Bast will be used as a carrier and decoy runner and will no doubt attract a lot of attention from the Welsh defence.

- We will look to test the defensive combo of Henson and Cave with runners like Bast and Spies.

- Evans to kick all pens in range for goal, if not go for touch and use Muller as our main jumper, with Garvey, Daniel and Spies also options. We will try to disrupt as much opposition ball as possible.

- Key area in this game is the breakdown and we have the master Armitage to dominate this area. We will look to clear out rucks quick and allow Armitage to secure quick ball and disrupt and turnover as much opposition ball as he can. Any turnover ball will be countered to get the likes of Tagi and Armitage in space.

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Sale Sharks vs. Northampton Saints

Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Jerome Schuster	09. Ben Spencer
02. Darren Dawdiuk	10. Johnny Sexton
03. Davit Zirakishvilli
04. Dave Attwood	11. Kyle Eastmond
05. Andries Bekker	12. Francois Steyn
06. Peter O'Mahony	13. Robbie Freuan
07. Fulgence Quedragao	14. Craig Gilroy
08. Louis Picamoles	15. Nick Abendanon

16. Ross Harrison 17. Tommy Taylor 18. Luc Ducalcon 19. Christian Day 20. Matt Kvesic 21. Nicholas Bezy 22. Beauden Barrett 23. Will Addison

Key Points

• Target Fofana positionally on defence. He has gone from playing 12 all season for Saints, to playing wing for France and now thrown in at 13. His defensive positioning has to be all over the place and with his habit of rushing out of the line as well this is an area where there will be space all game.Question marks over the Saints defence as Fofana is the defensive leader!

• Look to win the battle of the back rows. There is a lack of ground work in the Saints unit and with POM & Quedragao back in our side this week we feel this is an area we can dominate.

• If Dawdiuk is anything it’s a solid basics hooker (ask Matt!!) and with 5 strong jumping options the lineout should be an area of dominance for us up against Bonnaire.

Tactics

We will look to play a fast paced attacking game using big carriers running of the 9/10/12 axis to get us over the gain line and generate quick ball. Keeping the ball alive is crucial so our carriers will be looking for support runners to hit on the offload and get us further over the gain line. Our back three will look to get involved as much as possible running support lines of the halfbacks and midfield looking for the inside ball or offload. If for whatever reason we aren’t getting quick ball, we will look to take control of territory with the boots of Spencer, Sexton & Steyn and force Northampton to come at us from deep.

• With a powerful front 5 on show we will look to keep the scrum up and use it as a weapon. On our own feed we will look to get the wheel on and give our 8-9-10 axis as much room as possible to attack from.

• In Saints territory, with 5 jumping options to use, we will look to play off the top and move the ball out to Sexton and the backs. In our own territory, we will look to take the ball down into the maul and drive ourselves into the right areas.

• We will play an aggressive blitz on defence, playing on the edge of the offside line and coming up at pace, looking to isolate the ball carrier and stop any Northampton momentum before it can get going.

• Spencer will act as a sweeper and cover any chips or grubbers behind the defensive line.

• We will leave two players sitting deep to cover any kicks and they will look to counter attack of any loose ball.

• With the blitz in operation, we will look to be at the breakdown first hitting it hard and fast. If the ball looks available we will flood the breakdown with POM & Quedragao looking to get their hands on the ball.

• If the ball is not immediately available we will only commit 1 or 2 players to legally slow the ball down and instead look to strengthen the defensive line.

Northampton Saints

Manager – Dammit Chris

01. Thomas Domingo	09. Joe Simpson
02. Dylan Hartley (c)	10. Juan Martin Hernandez (k)
03. Carl Hayman
04. Bradley Davies	11. Siti Siviatu
05. Patricio Albacete	12. Matt Giteau
06. Calum Clark	13. Wesley Fofana
07. Julian Bonnaire	14. Christian Wade
08. Sergio Parisse	15. Ben Foden

16. Rob Webber 17. Sona Taumalolo 18. Logovi'i Mulipola 19. Julian Salvi 20. Billy Vunipola 21. Sam Harrison 22. Danny Cipriani 23. Matthew Tait

Overview - Saints will play a physical and aggressive game in the forwards where we will look to control possession and get our big ball carriers onto the ball. Provide plenty of opportunities for strike runners in backline & Giteau pulling the attacking strings in the 12 shirt. Hernandez's boot will allow us to also vary the game and pin the Sale team deep within their own half, with Bonnaire leading the lineout we will aim to place Sale under pressure here too.

Pack/SetPiece/Breakdown

- Will look to work through the phases and work around the fringes to make hard yards and give Hernandez a platform to launch attacks from, aiming for touch and lineouts. Looking to get Albcete, Davies, Clark and Parisse on the ball as much as possible.

- We are going to target Dawdiuk throughout the game and see this as a key area we can exploit in both set pieces - especially as everyone of our front row (incl. replacements) are internationals.

- We will target the set piece, especially with Bonnaire's presence in the lineout and will put the pressure on Spencer at no9 - if we can get some control on both scrum and lineout (due to Dawdiuk's lack of experience) then we can definitely get at Spencer.

- When opportunities are there to secure turnover ball we will put numbers into that area, initially we will look at the physicality of our pack at the breakdown to slow down Sale ball and frustrate them. But in the second half we will introduce Salvi to generate faster ball.

Attack -

- Hernandez and Giteau combination really allows Saints to vary the game - Hernandez's boot and Giteau's attacking/passing ability. Simpson will also be asked to snipe around the breakdown area and ensure that the Sale backrow are caught in two minds as to whether they should target him or Hernandez who will control the game at 10 with his kicking game.

- Will get Giteau controlling the attacking strings and he will look to put our strike runners into space - Fofana, Siviatu, Wade and Foden - each offering a different attacking threat for Sale.

- Attack Eastmond's wing, test him at this level.

- Kick all points and keep the scoreboard ticking over.


Defence -

- aggressive defence with a strong physical pack that will look to force Sale into mistakes and handling errors, again will look to target the set piece and cuse as a platform for the rest of our game.

- will use the kicking game of Hernandez and Gitea to clear our lines.

- will implement a blitz defence, with Fofana leading the defence in the midfield.

Key points -

- To target Dawdiuk throughout his time on the pitch gain advantage in both set pieces here.

- Place pressure on Ben Spencer, who is another talented youngster in a key position and this is an area we would like to take advantage of.

- Test Kyle Eastmonds defence early on.

- All international replacements for front row - use to get upper hand.

- Stop Sale building momentum by putting the ball deep and long into their own half and then targeting the lineout for as much as possible.

- Change the game in second half with introduction of Salvi and look to up the tempo by securing quick ball at the breakdown.

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Saracens vs. Gloucester

Saracens
Manager – Mike Driver

01.Matt Mullen	09.Jean Doussain(k)
02.George Chuter	10.Iain Humphries
03.Ben Tameifuna
04.Flip Van Der Merwe	11.Mark Cueto
05.Bryn Evans	12.Gael Fickou
06.Joe Van Nikirk (C)	13.Henry Trinder
07.Ross Rennie	14.Tim Visser
08.Rapheal Lakafia	15.Elliot Daley(K)

16.John Smit 17.Max Lahiff 18.Craig Mitchell 19.Tim Swinson 20.Luke Narraway 21.Will Chudley 22. Ronan O'Gara 23.Chris Bell

Tactics

Saracens go into this game motivated and confident after finding there feet with 2 wins and a draw out of there last 4 games.

Saracens will look to use the set piece as a platform to play from and know we have the solid lineout and scrum to secure our own clean ball. Smit will look to mix his throw up with Evans , FVM , Lakafia and JVN offering themselves as targets.

JMD and Ihump to play the game what is infront of them and mix there attack up with JMD attacking the fringes and hitting Ihump to spead the ball with big runners in our back line with Fickou taking the ball to the line to attract defenders creating the space.

We will look to use the choke tackle with FVM , Evans and JVN looking to wrap there man whilst Rennie will target the breakdown.

Lakafia to clean up any ball at scrum and hit the ball up at Goosen.

KEY POINTS

SHORTEN THE LINEOUT AND ALLOW JVN , RENNIE AND FVM TO CARRY OFF IHUMP

HUMP THE HIGHBALL ON Sharples WITH A STRONG CHASE FROM OUT BACK THREE AND RENNIE

TARGET Juan De Jong WITH A BIG BALL CARRIER AT 13 WITH TRINDER HOLDING HIS RUN TO HIT THE LINE AT MAC 9.

SHIFT TURNOVER BALL AND ATTACK THE DOG LEG

BLITZ DEFENCE WITH JMD SWEEPING AND THE BLINDSIDE WING DROPPING TO COVER ANY KICKS

JMD/Daley to build a lead with long range kicks.

Cummins had a field day for Aus running through Sharples , imagine what the much more powerful Visser will do, Get the ball to Visser in 1 on 1 with Sharples as much as we can.


Gloucester

01. Nick Wood	09. Will Genia
02. Joe Grey	10. Johan Goosen
03. Jamie Johnstone
04. Richie Grey	11. Hosea Gear
05. George Robson	12. Matt Scott
06. Stephen Ferris	13. Juan De Jongh
07. Alex Lapandry	14. Charlie Sharples
08. Immanol Harinordoqouy	15. Johnny May

16. Coonie ousthuizen 17. Deon Fourie 18. Rupert Harden 19. Tom Palmer 20. Andy Saull 21. Dan Robson 22. Kahui 23. JSD

Glaws travel to Sarries looking to continue there huge momentum they have built up.

Glaws would also like to point out Will Genia has only been out injured since 9th September so we are surprised he was picked out for lack of form. We think there is a higher power at work here and have developed a huge siege mentality and are border line paranoid


- Target Scrums- We have a strong front row unit backed with internationals all over the pack. We also have a great front row bench to bring on meaning they can go all out for the time they are on.
- Target Lineout- As ever we see this as a huge area of strength. Lineout is vital for securing your own possession and launching attacks but it is also vital for stiflling the opposition. With Hari, Lapandry, Ferris and Robson we have the ability to dismantle the Sarries lineout.
We will be looking to drive ball early on and then move to more off the top after we have won the right to attack wide.
- Use our ball carriers. We have a team packed with them and will use them to punch holes and get on the front foot to either offload or get quick ball going. ....

Target 9,10 channel- Glos will focus here and look to turn the screw
- breakdown we will target this area and look to turn over ball by getting numbers in to ruin or steal sarries ball.
- Mobility- We have a team blessed with mobility all over the pack and will look to utilise this to run the legs of sarriesand take them to positions they do not want to b e in.
The aim of the game is to create quick ball for Genia so he can dictate the game and get the backs running the ball in for scores.


We have a backline of pure balance of pace and power. we have the ability to punch holes and also the ability to play wide and fast.
- We will aim to raise the tempo in the second half with quick throw ins and countering loose kicks.

We are targetting the bonus point for tries and will be playing open. bench has impact so will be used as necessary.

All kicks at goal in range will be attempted by Goosen

---

Big game this week.

Only England,Wales, NZ and Oz playing this week. I think I come out of that okay, but still missing some top players.

Unsure wether to play likes of Louw, Mermoz, Clerc etc.
People mark down for needing a rest?

I only see an issue with the SH players who've had a busy RC and AI's. No issue with NH players for me, only 3 games for those who are available this week.

I think you have to look at the individual and what their international workload has been. I am likely to play Lambie, but probably not Vermeulen for that reason.

Will have a ponder.

Some massive games again this week. Sarries and Welsh off the back of two huge results, Fluxy's debut against the champs who aren't at full strength.

How would people feel about me playing Paddy Jackson? Blokes been quality all season and was pretty impressive vs. Fiji.

I'm thinking about playing Flip Van Der Merwe and Tim Visser.

My last 3 games have been Falcons (h), Gloucester (a), Saints (a). Now I have Irish (h) just after they've moved up to 2nd in the table. Tough, tough league this year.

Paddy is a good young player, and is having a decent season so far Driver, but for me is still young and needs experience around him if you are going to use him in this game.

So if i played let's say Jauzion outside him it would sofen the blow a bit?

Jauzion struggling now mate.

I'd stick with the back row and 9, 10, 12 you played last week.

Probs will , hoping to get my team up in next hour.

Great didn't see I was playing you Pooly, baptism of fire much?!

Be worth it fella , my first game on here 3 years back Ollie posted a team of fringe players to play me on the press release then on match thread rolled out the likes of Matfield and Spies!

Saracens
Manager – Mike Driver

01.Matt Mullen	09.Jean Doussain(k)
02.George Chuter	10.Iain Humphries
03.Ben Tameifuna
04.Flip Van Der Merwe	11.Mark Cueto
05.Bryn Evans	12.Gael Fickou
06.Joe Van Nikirk (C)	13.Henry Trinder
07.Ross Rennie	14.Tim Visser
08.Rapheal Lakafia	15.Elliot Daley(K)

16.John Smit 17.Max Lahiff 18.Craig Mitchell 19.Tim Swinson 20.Luke Narraway 21.Will Chudley 22. Ronan O'Gara 23.Chris Bell

Tactics

Saracens go into this game motivated and confident after finding there feet with 2 wins and a draw out of there last 4 games.

Saracens will look to use the set piece as a platform to play from and know we have the solid lineout and scrum to secure our own clean ball. Smit will look to mix his throw up with Evans , FVM , Lakafia and JVN offering themselves as targets.

JMD and Ihump to play the game what is infront of them and mix there attack up with JMD attacking the fringes and hitting Ihump to spead the ball with big runners in our back line with Fickou taking the ball to the line to attract defenders creating the space.

We will look to use the choke tackle with FVM , Evans and JVN looking to wrap there man whilst Rennie will target the breakdown.

Lakafia to clean up any ball at scrum and hit the ball up at Goosen.

KEY POINTS

SHORTEN THE LINEOUT AND ALLOW JVN , RENNIE AND FVM TO CARRY OFF IHUMP

HUMP THE HIGHBALL ON Sharples WITH A STRONG CHASE FROM OUT BACK THREE AND RENNIE

TARGET Juan De Jong WITH A BIG BALL CARRIER AT 13 WITH TRINDER HOLDING HIS RUN TO HIT THE LINE AT MAC 9.

SHIFT TURNOVER BALL AND ATTACK THE DOG LEG

BLITZ DEFENCE WITH JMD SWEEPING AND THE BLINDSIDE WING DROPPING TO COVER ANY KICKS

JMD/Daley to build a lead with long range kicks.

Cummins had a field day for Aus running through Sharples , imagine what the much more powerful Visser will do, Get the ball to Visser in 1 on 1 with Sharples as much as we can.

---

Fluxy wrote:Great didn't see I was playing you Pooly, baptism of fire much?!

I've not not lost at home in the league for 2 and half seasons Flux!

Not a massive issue playing AI players imo, not really far to travel. Might mark down a forward a little who's played 3 games on a trot but backs will be fine in my predo's.

Newcastle Falcons vs. London Wasps
Cloudy, 2°C, 7mph winds


Harlequins vs. Worcester Warriors
Cloudy, 3°C, 5mph winds


Leicester Tigers vs. Bath Rugby
Cloudy, 3°C, 5mph winds


London Welsh vs. London Irish
Sunny, 2°C, 4mph winds


Sale Sharks vs. Northampton Saints
Cloudy, 1°C, 3mph winds


Saracens vs. Gloucester
Cloudy, 3°C, 5mph winds

Leicester Tigers have named their side to play Bath at Welford Road this week.

Tigers make 3 changes to the side that beat London Wasps 24-20 at Adams Park. Nathan Hines returns to duty having served his suspension, and Maxime Mermoz and Vincent Clerc come back into the side after a successful period with France during the Autumn Internationals.

James Horwill, Billy Twelvetrees and Dom Shipperley drop out, with Brian O'Driscoll taking over the captaincy.


Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka

01. Andrew Sheridan	09. Dimitri Yachvili
02. Sebastien Bruno	10. Jonny Wilkinson (k)
03. Brian Mujati
04. Nathan Hines	11. Ugo Monye
05. Alistair Hargreaves	12. Maxime Mermoz
06. Sean O'Brien	13. Brian O'Driscoll (c)
07. James Scaysbrook	14. Vincent Clerc
08. Ernst Joubert	15. Isa Nacewa

16. Jonny Harris 17. Jimmy Stevens 18. Cencus Johnston 19. Pascal Pape 20. Francois Louw 21. Micky Young 22. Billy Twelvetrees 23. Dominic Waldouck

Tactics:

We will play to our strengths and play a game built around our intelligent HB's controlling the game, the power of our pack and the strength in our set piece.

- Ability to play in different ways - we're not here to kick the ball away. We have the personnel in our side to play a mixture of different styles, and we will play the game as we see it.

- Attack at all scrums with our huge pack - Bruno, Mujati and Sheridan to look to really get the shove on.

- Attack at all lineouts. Our lineout is led by Hargreaves; with Joubert, Hines and SOB as our other jumping options.
Some great lineout stealers in our ranks who will pressure every one of Brooker's throws.

- Gigantic pack made up of massive line-breakers, used in the tight to tire down the Bath defence. The likes of SOB, Joubert, Hines, Hargreaves and Scaysbrook to be used to crash through the Bath defence.
Look to play an offloading game, with runners always supporting.

- Huge emphasis on our work at the breakdown today and we will always look to turnover possession. With Scaysbrook, and the likes of SOB and BOD, we feel our breakdown play could be crucial today.

- In general attacking play, we will play off 9 with Yachvili our general pulling the strings. We want Yach and Wilko to control the game, mixing up the point of our attack and looking for where the gaps are. We want Mermoz and BOD on the ball looking to send our back three into space.

- We will look to employ a blitz defence, focusing on a quick line speed to hit the ball carrier before he gets to the gainline. We have aggressive forwards to carry out this instruction. Yachvili to sweep behind with an eye on short kicks.

- Unload our powerful bench to impact the game in the second half.

- Wilkinson to kick all penalites.


Key Points:

Form and Momentum
8 wins out of 9 in the league, we are absolutely flying at the minute and have so much confidence - sitting top of the league. In stark contrast - Bath have just won 4 of their 9 league games this season. Particularly at Welford Road, we feel unbeatable, and have already beaten the likes of Newcastle, Saints and Quins at home this season.

Impact off the Bench
Unless injury or cards say otherwise, we will introduce Cencus Johnston, Pascal Pape and Francois Louw off the bench early in the 2nd half - as they return from international duty. All three are in sensational from, and we hope for them to carry this into the Tigers shirt to give us the upper hand in the second half.

Fresh Pack
All of our players have been managed stringently this season in terms of game time, and we have chosen not to start any of the international players who played a lot over the AI's. In contrast, Bath are playing Healy, Kubs and Lobbe in their pack, who have all featured heavily for their countries over the last month.

London Irish
Manager – stnick88

01. Jean-Baptiste Poux	09. Ruan Pienaar
02. Tom Lindsay	10. Nick Evans
03. WP Nel
04. Matt Garvey	11. Sailosi Tagicakibau
05. Johann Muller	12. Luke McAllister
06. Keegan Daniel	13. Mathieu Bastereaud
07. Steffon Armitage	14. Marland Yarde
08. Pierre Spies	15. Delon Armitage

16. Matt Stevens 17. James Buckland 18. Brok Harris 19. Nick Kennedy 20. Will Fraser 21. Neal De Kock 22. Shane Geraghty 23. Sireli Naqalevuki

London Irish stick with the side that recorded an impressive win over the champions Newcastle Falcons for their match against London Welsh. Dubbed the battle of the Exiles, Irish will be determined to consolidate their position in the playoffs before returning to Heineken Cup duty next week.

Tactics

- We are on good form and will look to continue that form against a side playing at a new home ground for the season.

- We want to use our backs as much as possible and attack Welsh. Evans and Mac will look to control the game and get us playing in the right areas. Bast will be used as a carrier and decoy runner and will no doubt attract a lot of attention from the Welsh defence.

- We will look to test the defensive combo of Henson and Cave with runners like Bast and Spies.

- Evans to kick all pens in range for goal, if not go for touch and use Muller as our main jumper, with Garvey, Daniel and Spies also options. We will try to disrupt as much opposition ball as possible.

- Key area in this game is the breakdown and we have the master Armitage to dominate this area. We will look to clear out rucks quick and allow Armitage to secure quick ball and disrupt and turnover as much opposition ball as he can. Any turnover ball will be countered to get the likes of Tagi and Armitage in space.

Northampton Saints team versus Sale

Manager – Dammit Chris

01. Thomas Domingo	09. Joe Simpson
02. Dylan Hartley (c)	10. Juan Martin Hernandez (k)
03. Carl Hayman
04. Bradley Davies	11. Siti Siviatu
05. Patricio Albacete	12. Matt Giteau
06. Calum Clark	13. Wesley Fofana
07. Julian Bonnaire	14. Christian Wade
08. Sergio Parisse	15. Ben Foden

16. Rob Webber 17. Sona Taumalolo 18. Logovi'i Mulipola 19. Julian Salvi 20. Billy Vunipola 21. Sam Harrison 22. Danny Cipriani 23. Matthew Tait

Overview - Saints will play a physical and aggressive game in the forwards where we will look to control possession and get our big ball carriers onto the ball. Provide plenty of opportunities for strike runners in backline & Giteau pulling the attacking strings in the 12 shirt. Hernandez's boot will allow us to also vary the game and pin the Sale team deep within their own half, with Bonnaire leading the lineout we will aim to place Sale under pressure here too.

Pack/SetPiece/Breakdown

- Will look to work through the phases and work around the fringes to make hard yards and give Hernandez a platform to launch attacks from, aiming for touch and lineouts. Looking to get Albcete, Davies, Clark and Parisse on the ball as much as possible.

- We are going to target Dawdiuk throughout the game and see this as a key area we can exploit in both set pieces - especially as everyone of our front row (incl. replacements) are internationals.

- We will target the set piece, especially with Bonnaire's presence in the lineout and will put the pressure on Spencer at no9 - if we can get some control on both scrum and lineout (due to Dawdiuk's lack of experience) then we can definitely get at Spencer.

- When opportunities are there to secure turnover ball we will put numbers into that area, initially we will look at the physicality of our pack at the breakdown to slow down Sale ball and frustrate them. But in the second half we will introduce Salvi to generate faster ball.

Attack -

- Hernandez and Giteau combination really allows Saints to vary the game - Hernandez's boot and Giteau's attacking/passing ability. Simpson will also be asked to snipe around the breakdown area and ensure that the Sale backrow are caught in two minds as to whether they should target him or Hernandez who will control the game at 10 with his kicking game.

- Will get Giteau controlling the attacking strings and he will look to put our strike runners into space - Fofana, Siviatu, Wade and Foden - each offering a different attacking threat for Sale.

- Attack Eastmond's wing, test him at this level.

- Kick all points and keep the scoreboard ticking over.


Defence -

- aggressive defence with a strong physical pack that will look to force Sale into mistakes and handling errors, again will look to target the set piece and cuse as a platform for the rest of our game.

- will use the kicking game of Hernandez and Gitea to clear our lines.

- will implement a blitz defence, with Fofana leading the defence in the midfield.

Key points -

- To target Dawdiuk throughout his time on the pitch gain advantage in both set pieces here.

- Place pressure on Ben Spencer, who is another talented youngster in a key position and this is an area we would like to take advantage of.

- Test Kyle Eastmonds defence early on.

- All international replacements for front row - use to get upper hand.

- Stop Sale building momentum by putting the ball deep and long into their own half and then targeting the lineout for as much as possible.

- Change the game in second half with introduction of Salvi and look to up the tempo by securing quick ball at the breakdown.

[/i]

01. Beast	09. Kerr Barlow
02. Gary Botha	10. Morne Steyn (k)
03. BJ Botha
04. Jim Hamilton (c)	11. Sean Maitland
05. Ollie Kohn	12. Pat McCabe
06. Tom Savage	13. Matt Hopper
07. Mamuka Gorgodze	14. James Short
08. Jerome Kaino	15. Rob Cook

16. Korree Britton 17. Nathan Catt 18. Chris Budgen 19. Juan Cruz Guilleman 20. Chris Walker 21. Eion Reddan 22. Tom Heathcote 23. Olly Barkley

Tactics

We for survival today and disrupt Quins. We have picked a grizzled pack who will play up the jumper rugby before releasing an exciting outside back line. International quality is in the key areas with in form players alongside these. After gaining a good draw against Sarries with a understrength backrow we welcome back Gorgodze and bring Kaino in for his first start.

Forwards
*Front row to concentrate on the scrum and get the upper hand from the hit. We will look to get the edge on them on their feed to open a clearer route for Gorgodze to run at their attack,
*2nd row-lineouts is key today and we have jumpers who will look for quick ball and to disrupt their ball. Hamilton and Kohn will look to get under their skin and Kaino is an extra lineout jumper,
*Back-row have international experience in Kaino and Gorgodze who will bring power to the game and be strong carriers over the pitch along with Savage, we will use both Kaino and Savage to aim to hit every other defensive ruck to look for the turnover or disrupt their plan of getting quick ball,
*Experience and impact on the bench, Budgie will look to maintain our scrum advantage with the youngsters and Guilleman can bring impact power.

Backs
*Quick ball from Kerr-Barlow and Steyn will play what's in front of him, he will look to run quite a bit of ball if there is space ahead and the defence are disorganised but if not he'll pin Quins back deep into touch and we will challenge their lineouts. Go for goal when the opportunities are there,
*Strong centres with McCabe looking for the offload to a forward runner or to Hopper who will look to get across the gainline before releasing the strong running back 3,
*On the wings we have players who are proven scorers, Short and Maitland will both bring pace, both will look to come off their wing's for work. Cook has been hitting the line well in real life and will do the same, he will also look to clear our line when pressure is put from deep kicks,
*We have further pace on the bench with Heathcote and Barkley can fill in and play a kicking game if the clock needs to be wound down, Peel will look to add experience and look to snipe as will Kerr-Barlow.

Defence
*Banana-blitz defence with McCabe leading this and Kerr-Barlow sweeping,
*If we get turnover ball by committing 2 players at the ruck then we will go for it and play with our heads up,
*Defence inside-out making sure that the pillar's are protected.

Overall
*Control the set piece,
*Put pressure by kicking deep and if it's on, use our strong backs to break the line and offload when it's on,
*This is a massive game and we know we have to win this and have picked a strong set of players to do so with a useful impact bench.

Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane

01. Cian Healy	09. Richard Wigglesworth
02. Chris Brooker	10. Charlie Hodgson
03. Davit Kubrashvili
04. Louis Deacon	11. Maxime Medard
05. Graham Kitchener	12. Anthony Allen
06. Brad Shields	13. Aurelien Rougerie
07. Akapusi Qera	14. Napolini Nalaga
08. Juan Martin Fernando Lobbe	15. Stuart Hogg

16. Euan Murray 17. Will Tanner 18. Jon Golding 19. Jarrad Hoeata 20. David Seymour 21. Fourie Du Preez 22. Luther Burrell 23. Rob Miller

Overall: Look to play the conditions throughout with Hodgson running the tempo. Use big runners/carries and go through the phases. Keep things simple in our own half and increase the pressure in opposition half. We will especially look to exploit the lineout where we feel we have a big advantage

Scrum: We will look to be competitive at scrum time with Lobbe controlling it from the back. Lobbe will control the scrum from number eight. Apply pressure and look to get nudge on throughout. Look to play the ref and if not going our way use as a restart.

Lineout: Our second row partnership is where we really feel we can have advantage. With Kitchener, Lobbe and Deacon backed up by Shields we can really get at the opposition throw. We will look to really attack the lineout as somewhere we have an advantage over Tigers.

We will be looking for big carries from the forwards with the likes of Lobbe, Healy and Shields dangerous runners who can really create gaps for our backs. We will be looking for lots of energy from our forwards to open up holes to be exploited. Our carrying is somewhere we feel we have a distinct advantage.

Breakdown: Look to clear hard and fast with Qera and Shields looking to make a real nuisance of themselves and get their hands on the ball

Backs: We will be looking to use the backs in order to create or go through holes. Wigglesworth and Hodgson will look to really get the backs going with a good tempo.. Look to get our big runners involved as early as possible with Rougerie, Hogg and Nalaga seeing lots of the ball. Hodgson will often look to deep in the corners if we feel we have the lineout dominance established. Lobbe will lead any chases.

Defence: Use a blitz defence in order to put pressure on Tiger’s key decision makers and prevent them from playing. Richard Wigglesworth to sweep in behind.

Substitutes: Our subs will come on and look to keep a high tempo. Tanner, Murray and Golding will look to come in and help the scrum. Hoeata will look to add grit late on whilst Seymour will look to add to breakdown late on. Du Preez has a lot of experience and will look to use it late on to control the tempo. Burrell and Miller are great options late on. Burrell can inject a little bit of tempo and energy. Miller also capable of runs offer another boot late on to keep territory.

Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

Quins are able to welcome back many of their international stars this weekend as Worcester come to The Stoop in hope of getting a win which will prove important in the final scheme of things. The inspiration for Quins this week is the chance of taking 2nd spot for the first time this season should other results go their way.

01. Joe Marler	09. Lee Dickson
02. Schalk Brits	10. Greg Laidlaw (k)
03. John Afoa
04. Bakkies Botha	11. Tom Biggs
05. Steve Borthwick	12. Felipe Contepomi
06. Dave Denton	13. Florian Fritz
07. Chris Henry	14. Zac Guildford
08. Nick Easter (c)	15. Rob Kearney

16. Rob Buchanan 17. Ben Franks 18. Kieran Brookes 19. George Kruis 20. Jamie Gibson 21. Karl Dickson 22. Quade Cooper 23. Anthony Faainga

Tactics

Similar to how we play every week. Use the big carriers in our side to punch holes in the opposition defence before we look to get the ball into the wider channels for our backs to exploit the gaps. We will look to get quick ball at the breakdown and keep the tempo high to tire Worcester out. We will not kick aimlessly and will look to offload when it is on.

We will look for our forwards to carry off 9 and 10 and when they do this we will look for them to carry at pace and in numbers. When they hit contact we will look to win the collisions and keep the legs pumping to keep up the momentum. When we are getting quick ball we want Laidlaw and Contepomi to attack the line to make it harder for the Worcester defence to defend. Always looking for our forwards to carry in numbers so they have support for the offload and so we can ruck the ball quickly and keep the attack going.

When we get the ball to the backs we are looking to get the ball into the hands of our dangermen at 13 and in the back 3. If we create these guys gaps then they will make the yards and score the tries.

At the set piece we will be trying to get the nudge on at scrum time as well as looking for Steve Borthwick to control the lineout. We will look to shorten the lineout between the 22m lines to get Denton and Easter into a position to carry in the midfield.

In defence we want a quick linespeed and to double up in the tackle when it is on. We will look for our players to look to get the turnover when its on and for our pack to legally slow down the Worcester ball.

Key Points

- Packed with physical carriers in our pack so we can make ground with every carry. Very mobile pack as well.

- Dickson best 9 around for playing at a quick tempo. Service brilliant and commands the pack well.

- 10 and 12 both capable of controlling field position should we need to switch tactics. Packed with creativity across the backline.

- As always we are looking to score tries but a win comes first. Can't afford to slip up at home.

- Good bench packed with impact players.

Glaws XXiii

01. Nick Wood	09. Will Genia
02. Joe Grey	10. Johan Goosen
03. Jamie Johnstone
04. Richie Grey	11. Hosea Gear
05. George Robson	12. Matt Scott
06. Stephen Ferris	13. Juan De Jongh
07. Alex Lapandry	14. Charlie Sharples
08. Immanol Harinordoqouy	15. Johnny May

16. Coonie ousthuizen 17. Deon Fourie 18. Rupert Harden 19. Tom Palmer 20. Andy Saull 21. Dan Robson 22. Kahui 23. JSD

Glaws travel to Sarries looking to continue there huge momentum they have built up.

Glaws would also like to point out Will Genia has only been out injured since 9th September so we are surprised he was picked out for lack of form. We think there is a higher power at work here and have developed a huge siege mentality and are border line paranoid


- Target Scrums- We have a strong front row unit backed with internationals all over the pack. We also have a great front row bench to bring on meaning they can go all out for the time they are on.
- Target Lineout- As ever we see this as a huge area of strength. Lineout is vital for securing your own possession and launching attacks but it is also vital for stiflling the opposition. With Hari, Lapandry, Ferris and Robson we have the ability to dismantle the Sarries lineout.
We will be looking to drive ball early on and then move to more off the top after we have won the right to attack wide.
- Use our ball carriers. We have a team packed with them and will use them to punch holes and get on the front foot to either offload or get quick ball going. ....

Target 9,10 channel- Glos will focus here and look to turn the screw
- breakdown we will target this area and look to turn over ball by getting numbers in to ruin or steal sarries ball.
- Mobility- We have a team blessed with mobility all over the pack and will look to utilise this to run the legs of sarriesand take them to positions they do not want to b e in.
The aim of the game is to create quick ball for Genia so he can dictate the game and get the backs running the ball in for scores.


We have a backline of pure balance of pace and power. we have the ability to punch holes and also the ability to play wide and fast.
- We will aim to raise the tempo in the second half with quick throw ins and countering loose kicks.

We are targetting the bonus point for tries and will be playing open. bench has impact so will be used as necessary.

All kicks at goal in range will be attempted by Goosen

Is Barnes not playing weekend??

Having secured a draw at Franklins gardens last week against an in form Northampton Saints, London Welsh make 3 changes to the starting XV to take on London Irish at home this week. Morgan Parra, Patric Lambie and Jaco Taute return from international duty to replace Tomas O’Leary., Butch James and Louis Ludik.

London Welsh
Manager – Ozzy3213

01. Brett Sturgess	09. Morgan Parra
02. Bismarck du Plessis	10. Patric Lambie
03. Adam Jones
04. Dean Schofield ©	11. Bryan Habana
05. George Skivington	12. Gavin Henson
06. Tom Johnson	13. Darren Cave
07. Thierry Dusautoir	14. Matt Jess
08. Sione Kalamafoni	15. Jaco Taute

16. Chris Whitehead 17. Steven Kitschoff 18. Frans Malherbe 19. James Hanks 20. Luke Wallace 21. Charlie Davies 22. Joel Tomkins 23. Louis Ludik

Basic Game Plan

Basic tactical premise for us to control possession and be solid defensively. Focus will be on winning the gainline collisions in both attack and defence. In order to do this we have picked a very big pack to try to physically dominate this area of the game. We are aware that Irish have big backs so will be looking for the gaps and offloading in attack rather than trying to drive over players all the time. We will look to apply pressure to Irish by keeping the ball for long periods and wearing them down defensively, and also by maintaining a solid defence and denying them opportunities to get on the score board. Pressure forces mistakes, and we will look to capitalise on any that Saints make.

Attacking specifics

• Pat Lambie to play what he sees, but in essence we want to control possession and go through the phases.
  
• Target Tagicakibau in defence, in particular big carriers looking to go on his inside shoulder where he is not the best one on one tackler..
  
• Support runners to ruck past the ball quickly if the carrier goes to ground in order to secure quick ball to go again.
  
• Go through the phases, looking to mix things up. Irish have a big backline from 11-14 and we want move them around and create gaps rather than looking for the contact.
  

Defensive specifics

• We will look to play a blitz defence with quick line speed to hit the ball carrier before he gets to the gainline and knock him back even further. Parra will sweep in behind.
  
• We will not overcommit to the breakdown. If a turnover is on, we will go for it, counter rucking and hitting on the break. If it is not on to win the ball, we will send in a couple of players to legally slow it, and get our defensive line set quickly and strongly a la France in the World Cup. We want to control the gainline in defence and attack.
  
• Maintain discipline and do not give away penalties.
  

Key Points

• Good form, beating Falcons and getting a losing bonus point at Gloucester and a draw at Saints, but not the sort of form that breeds complacency. We are in a good place, knowing that we can win, but we have to play well to do so, and are at home.
  
• Experienced internationals in key position (2,8,9,10) who know how to control a game.
  
• Our focus is on controlling possession and keeping the ball alive. We want to hit gaps and get the ball away to support runners, causing the big Irish backs to have to work very hard defensively, which in turn should create gaps for us to put runners through..
  
• We have no traditional fetcher, but with BdP in the side the balance of our pack is good as he is better at the breakdown than most opensides.
  
• We may not have as many ‘stars’ in the side as some teams, but our players complement each other and work as a unit, and you need some solid citizens in sides to do the grunt work, and we have that in abundance. Not flash, just effective.
  

Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Sgt Pooly

01. Fabien Barcella	09. Luke Burgess
02. Rory Best	10. Toby Flood
03. Paul Doran-Jones
04. Brad Thorn	11. Miles Benjamin
05. Paul O’Connell©	12. Sonny Bill Williams
06. Kelly Brown	13. George Lowe
07. Heinrich Brussow	14. Tommy Bowe
08. Jackson Wray	15. Jared Payne

16. Lee Mears 17. Clement Ric 18. Alex Waller 19. Ed Slater 20. John Barclay 21. Jimmy Cowan 22. Henry Slade 23. Ben Williams

Tactics:

HOME ADVANTAGE – Won every game at home in over 2 years
BACKLINE – Major talent and game breakers in backline
FRONT 5 - To set us strong platform


General – High intensity, quick passing game. Look to keep the ball alive in the forwards and use the offload to keep the tempo high. We'll look to set a platform with strong front 5 and control the collision and breakdown. Our pack will look to get Flood on the front foot and dictate play with SBW outside him he has the perfect 12 to draw defences away and look for the outside backs to get into the game.

FORWARDS

Scrum – With the good conditions and minimal restarts expected we’ll be looking to use the scrum as a restart and get the ball in and out and provide quick ball to our backline. If a glaring weakness is seen in the opposition we’ll look to keep the ball in longer but this is the call of the pack captain. Strong bench options to put squeeze on in 2nd half.

Lineout – quick ball off the top using POC as primary caller, also look to use Brown, Thorn to offer front ball. Target opposition ball and contest outside of 22 especially. Good jumping options throughout side. In opposition half look for Best (one of safest throws in game) to throw to middle/back which generates quicker/attacking ball. With our midfield coming into the attacking line flat we’ll look to open up the opposition midfield.

Breakdown – Look to target breakdown throughout game and really slow opposition attacking ball down and limit the opposition FH’s options forcing him to kick. Brussow to lead the attack and time his arrival to the ruch to allow him to attemp turnover or slow of opp ball. Will look to get Thorn/POC in at rucks if possible who’ll clear out and give our backrow the ideal opportunity to get hands on ball.

Defence – Look to use the blitz defence and get in the face of the opposition preventing any momentum. Burgess to sweep in behind and look out for any grubbers.

BACKS

Halfbacks – Look to get fast attacking ball and Burgess to play how he does he does for Aus/Toulouse by raising the tempo and attacking the fringes. Flood to play flat to the line and bring SBW into play.

Centres – Look to Get SBW hitting it hard through the centre and draw in the opposition defence. Also look to use him as decoy with Flood using the miss pass and getting Lowe on the outside or Bowe through the middle/outside.

Back 3 – Serious gas and power to exploit the opposition out wide. Payne look to make the break or have Bowe tracking to play the slide pass.

POINTS:-
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Jimmy Cowan has been in fantastic form at Gloucester Pooly. Making me eat my words

Yea he's looked good, be great for Robson as he could be a star.

Robson is tremendous whether he starts or comes on. Makes a huge impact and improves all the time.

Robson is a serious goal kicker as well. Played ten some times for england u20s

You can tell his tactical kicking is spot on. Should be in with a Saxons shout, really rate him.

Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Jerome Schuster	09. Ben Spencer
02. Darren Dawdiuk	10. Johnny Sexton
03. Davit Zirakishvilli
04. Dave Attwood	11. Kyle Eastmond
05. Andries Bekker	12. Francois Steyn
06. Peter O'Mahony	13. Robbie Freuan
07. Fulgence Quedragao	14. Craig Gilroy
08. Louis Picamoles	15. Nick Abendanon

16. Ross Harrison 17. Tommy Taylor 18. Luc Ducalcon 19. Christian Day 20. Matt Kvesic 21. Nicholas Bezy 22. Beauden Barrett 23. Will Addison

Key Points

• Target Fofana positionally on defence. He has gone from playing 12 all season for Saints, to playing wing for France and now thrown in at 13. His defensive positioning has to be all over the place and with his habit of rushing out of the line as well this is an area where there will be space all game.Question marks over the Saints defence as Fofana is the defensive leader!

• Look to win the battle of the back rows. There is a lack of ground work in the Saints unit and with POM & Quedragao back in our side this week we feel this is an area we can dominate.

• If Dawdiuk is anything it’s a solid basics hooker (ask Matt!!) and with 5 strong jumping options the lineout should be an area of dominance for us up against Bonnaire.

Tactics

We will look to play a fast paced attacking game using big carriers running of the 9/10/12 axis to get us over the gain line and generate quick ball. Keeping the ball alive is crucial so our carriers will be looking for support runners to hit on the offload and get us further over the gain line. Our back three will look to get involved as much as possible running support lines of the halfbacks and midfield looking for the inside ball or offload. If for whatever reason we aren’t getting quick ball, we will look to take control of territory with the boots of Spencer, Sexton & Steyn and force Northampton to come at us from deep.

• With a powerful front 5 on show we will look to keep the scrum up and use it as a weapon. On our own feed we will look to get the wheel on and give our 8-9-10 axis as much room as possible to attack from.

• In Saints territory, with 5 jumping options to use, we will look to play off the top and move the ball out to Sexton and the backs. In our own territory, we will look to take the ball down into the maul and drive ourselves into the right areas.

• We will play an aggressive blitz on defence, playing on the edge of the offside line and coming up at pace, looking to isolate the ball carrier and stop any Northampton momentum before it can get going.

• Spencer will act as a sweeper and cover any chips or grubbers behind the defensive line.

• We will leave two players sitting deep to cover any kicks and they will look to counter attack of any loose ball.

• With the blitz in operation, we will look to be at the breakdown first hitting it hard and fast. If the ball looks available we will flood the breakdown with POM & Quedragao looking to get their hands on the ball.

• If the ball is not immediately available we will only commit 1 or 2 players to legally slow the ball down and instead look to strengthen the defensive line.

CJB

Pocock and Mealamu both involved in internationals this weekend.

London Wasps

Manager – Fluxy

01. Ben Daley	09. Haydn Thomas
02. Sean Cronin	10. Stephen Myler
03. Shaun Knight
04. Mouritz Botha	11. Tom Varndell
05. Marco Wentzel	12. Dan Bowden
06. Samu Manoa	13. George Pisi
07. Jonathon Poff	14. Topsy Ojo
08. Roger Wilson	15. Simon Zebo

16. Huia Edmonds 17. Charlie Beech 18.Carlos Nieto 19. Dan Tuohy 20. Beau Robinson 21. Jonah Holmes 22. Dan Hipkiss 23. Matt Banahan

Tactics
As the first game in charge of a new club not all of the plays and cohesion will be in place, so form the off we will employ a simple yet effective game plan against and imperious team away form home. We look to impose ourselves from the off and let the opposition know how we are going to play the game and how we want to dictate the pace of the game. Our brand of rugby is physical and fast, however we won't just run the ball at every opportunity. We will only play in the right areas of the paddock, therefore Myler will look to keep us penned in the Falcons 22. If Falcons are to score against us they will have to run the ball 80+ metres. We will look to go through simple phases to reproduce quick ball to cut the defence open. Slow ball we will look to set up pods and runners off Bowden, as this will drag Falcons defenders further. We have experienced players all other the pitch in Wentzel, Poff and Myler, and they will lead the team. With the changeable conditions, they also know how we will want to play our game.

Tactics

• Solid scrummagers on and off the bench, we will look to secure our own ball and at least pressure the Falcons feed. Sometimes look to legally wheel their feed to cut of the scrum-half from the backline.
  
  
• With a strong lineout, Wentzel will lead the lineout and use himself as banker ball at the front of the line with Botha jumping in the middle. Look to run full number lineouts to tie in the opposing pack.
  
  
• Our whole pack is mobile and capable of snaffling ball at the breakdown. Collectively we will look to (legally!) slow down Falcons' ball as much possible, only committing men to rucks if they only have two or less men in the ruck. Otherwise we will pull men out into the line to prevent them any front foot ball for their big carriers.
  
  
• The backrow will target the halfbacks, allowing them no time on the ball, which will lead to them rushing and making handling errors and mistakes.
  
  
• We will look to keep the ball alive, preventing them from setting any defensive lines and moving the point of attack. Myler will direct traffic with the use of quick pods systems outside the guards of the rucks.
  
  
• Off any first phase possession, the blindside winger will come in to create options off Myler so that it can keep the defence guessing to whether we will go wide, or cut against the grain.
  
  
• We will run a slow drift line in defence, with Thomas sweeping. We won't look to blitz, as with the line the falcons carriers then have to go through us. And with Flood being the only kicking option the team, we can only see the attack attempting to out pass us.
  
  
• Look to use our strong bench for impact later in the game. To get an advantage in the scrum, and collisions with big impact players.
  
  
• Myler kick all points, he can kick from within their half, so this indicates that Falcons should be wary of giving away penalties.
  
  
• Despite Falcons not losing at home for a long time, this shouldn't matter. To us its another game, and we want a win - especially with the boys willing to show what they can do for their new manager

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Fluxy you are one sub short mate

Chris, you need to shorten your tactics mate. A while back it was agreed on that we would limit to around 500 words. I've let them go when people have been a little bit over, as some are again this week, but yours are 820 words which is way to much over.

Need to cut them back mate. Cheers.

Got mine to 500 on the dot now

I'm thinking mines just over but had to do on phone.

820 is pretty impressive.

That ok lads?

Sorry I can type pretty quickly and only takes a few minutes before things start looking like war and peace...

That's much better Chris, cheers mate.

Damn it, I thought something looked askew. Am I alright to quickly chuck in a sub?

Up to date

Just pointing out this is Dawdiuks 4th season at Premiership level after a year starting for the Pirates in the Championship. Not exactly inexperienced. Hes known for being a strong set piece hooker! He also has Bekker, Attwood, Ouedragao, POM and Pickles to throw at, all of whom are main lineout jumpers for their club/country.

Eastmond has missed 6 tackles from 45 (ESPN). Giving him a completion rate of 87%. Wade has 4 misses from 34 a completion rate of 88%... Eastmond should be fine lining up directly against Wade.

Worth the admission just to watch Eastmond and Wade!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03ynjaUQIa4

Match thread updated and predictions OPEN

Newcastle 21 - 18 Wasps

First up I think Fluxy's tactics are excellent. He has gone their knowing that open rugby won't work and has picked the right game plan emphasizing Myler's strengths. With him pinning Newcastle back I'm not convinced Newcastle have the men to win the kicking battle. That said, their is a considerable advantage to Newcastle at scrum time and this hurts Wasps. Nieto would have made such a difference. Newcastle have the edge in the pack but its not by a huge amount, but its enough. Wasps win the pack battle and with their tactics they can win the game. In the end I think the Newcastle quality will show through, but not nearly as comfortable win as it might have been.

Leicester 24 - 23 Bath

Front 5's have a slight edge to Bath. Both hookers struggle at this level and set piece is pretty tight. Back rows also very tight, SOB and JMFL the standouts with JMF in fine form. Overall the packs probably just about to Bath. Half backs to Leicester with better control btu Hodgson playing very well and will get the backs going better than Wilko. Leicester outside backs however are slightly stronger and think they will run in some tries. Overall its very close, Leicester just about get home.

London Welsh 17 - 17 London Irish

Welsh should do a little more in the scrum with Jones and BDP but Irish control the 2nd row. Back rows are very tight and I can't split them. Irish will have the better at the lineout and Welsh the scrum. Breakdown pretty even. Packs are dead even for my money. Both sets of half backs are quality but I think it is the narrowest of edges to Irish. One a piece in the centres with Mac and Cave the stronger. Jess in great form and combined with Habana will be a danger outwide. This is a real tight affair and I don't see much on either bench to come on and make a difference. In the end there is hardly a thing in it so it finishes as a draw.

Sale 28 -29 Northampton

Scrum should go to Saints with a very strong unit backed up by a big 2nd row. Don't see much at the lineout with Bonnaire the best lineout forward on show making up for Sale having a few more jumpers. Not much between the packs when it comes to carrying or as units. Half backs are one a piece preferring Sexton and Simpson. Centres go to Saints with Fofana the star man and the back 3's are tight due to to scintillating for of Craig Gilroy. Another really tight game. I think this one will go down to the wire and very tough to call. gut says that Saints have more invention in the backs and in the conditions will get the win.

Saracens 23 - 27 Gloucester

Upfront is very tight but I prefer the Gloucester front 5 and think they have more in the lineout as well. Rennie should control the breakdown but overall there is an advantage to Gloucester upfront. Halfbacks to Gloucester by a long way and this make a difference. Outside backs to Gloucester but its close with some good players for Saracens at 12 and 14 inparticular. Gloucester take a good win.

Newcastle Falcons 20-18 London Wasps

Falcons have a little more in the front 5 and can see them getting at the scrum a little. Don’t see much between the back rows on current form. Little more quality for Falcons in the halfbacks but the Wasps combo is perfect for the game plan. More quality in midfield for Falcons but again the Wasps midfield will help with the territorial game with both having strong kicking games. Little more quality in the back 3s for Falcons but cracking form for Wasps levels it out. Wasps are missing a gain line breaker in the backline for me. See this being a tight game with a good set up for Wasps but Falcons have enough quality to take the win.


Harlequins 23-19 Worcester Warriors

Cracking battle at the scrum with Worcester getting a little edge but see Quins getting at the lineout in this one. Physical back row for Worcester but Kaino is very hard to rate now. Edge to Quins with some good form. Halfback battle is even. Two decent midfields but just a little more to Quins. More quality for Quins in the back three but Guildford settling in won’t be at his best. Quins just have that little bit more in the backrow and backs to take the win.


Leicester Tigers 27-21 Bath Rugby

Tigers looking a bit fresher in the front 5 and see them getting the upperhand at the scrum. Decent lineout options for both sides. Not much between the back rows. Bit more game control from the Tigers halfbacks. Hodgson will get his backs moving a little better though. Nothing between the back threes on current form but Tigers have a bit more about them in midfield. Tigers have more impact from the bench. See Tigers getting more of a platform with the scrum and the halfbacks.


London Welsh 15-12 London Irish

Good set piece battle in this one. Welsh with a little more at scrum time. Cracking back row battle and neither side will get on top here. Little more for Irish in the halfbacks but Welsh are no slouches. Irish slightly stronger in midfield but it isn’t a game changer with Cave in good form. Back threes are fairly even. Not much between the backs overall but Welsh get a little more out of the pack battle and at home that is crucial.


Saracens 17-22 Gloucester Rugby

Nothing in this one at scrum time but Glaws have a bit more at the lineout. Don’t see much difference between the back 5s of the pack. Glaws have the bigger names but theres a lack of form for the biggest of those names at the moment. More at halfback for Gloucester but good form for Sarries. More quality for Glaws from 11-15. Although Sharples is susceptible I don’t see Visser getting at him too much when they are on opposite sides of the field. Bit more impact of the bench for Glaws. Glaws will get more from their possession although home advantage keeps it tight.

Newcastle 25 - 22 Wasps

Advantage Newcastle up front with a much stronger unit. Both sides strong in the line out but think Newcastle have the stronger 2nd row. Give the advantage to Wasps in the back row, but prefer Manoa at 4. Give the edge to Newcastle at HB, although think i'd have played Cowan. Two decent centre units, with one apiece - Bowden out of form doesn't help Wasps. Form wise both sides have decent form, and some iffy form, in the back threes. Think newcastle have the better sider, and at home they get the win. But think Wasps will scrap, particularly after a new manager has taken over.

Harlequins 26 - 21 Worcester

Decent front row battle this. probes edge to the home side, but not a lot in it. bakes the standout in the 2nd row and gives Quins the edge here. Tough to call back row, think Woss are a bit one dimensional, whereas Quins better balanced. One apiece in the HBs for me, and again the centres, withg the back threes fairly tight. Think Quins are strong in the pack and take the win here.